I've found that building a regular and consistent morning schedule is massively comforting always to have. No matter what happens in the day, I've got something that will be constant, and I can expect that in my morning routine.
I always do something in that routine that is always making me grow, or at least not fall backward on progress. I find doing this gives me a sense of, if everything else goes wrong today, at least I did something in this morning that got me a tiny bit farther than yesterday. I alternate weightlifting and running in the mornings for 6 days a week for my own workout routine. For my gym workouts, I'll heavily focus on one area of my body and push hard on that area for about 30 minutes. Today was leg day, so I did many weighted squats, leg raises, leg extension, and lunges with DBs. I always have a 5-minute warm-up and cool down on the elliptical that gets my heart rate up and loosens any stiff muscles.
Talking with someone I greatly look up to, he mentioned that training on weightlifting machines is not an idea, or rather, not the most bang for your buck. Basically, if you are using a machine at the gym that specifically targets one muscle in your body, it does a magnificent job building that one spot. However, the benefits of doing free-weights are that you get the muscle-building everywhere and not only those you're trying to target. Like with a bench press, if it's a hydraulic machine one, you don't need to worry about balancing the bar, so you don't get that added strength training. You're building muscle for it to be used, and the chances of you lifting something that doesn't require balance to some extent is very unlikely.
I've also heard that you build the most muscle when you are at the end of your strength. It forces your muscle to go past the point at which it had stored muscle and tells your body to grow that area. Talking with the owner of the gym I go to, he shared with me his workout process. He outlined doing 3 sets of max weight (12, 10, and 8 reps), then doing as many reps as you could do at a lower weight (typically 60% of your max) for 35-45 seconds. It confuses your muscles and gives you new overall max weight strength and endurance for doing more reps!
I am by no means an expert in any of this, but through a lot of trial and error, I've got a pretty decent system down, and I'm able to do it, which is most important consistently!
Key takeaways:
- Routines are good; they give you something that you can count on and feel good about
- Exercising your body or brain consistently, even small is amazing; it gives you a sense of accomplishment even if you do nothing else the rest of the day.
- Machines are good, but free-weights are best.
- Push your muscles past their comfort point
- Making your front hard push in the beginning, then smaller, longer endurance training, builds a well-rounded muscle.